The proliferation of regional and bilateral preferential trade agreements has spurred a dynamic evolution of “mode 4” provisions well beyond the standard acquired in the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services. Free trade agreements signed by China and India also cover non highly skilled workers...

Gender is being mainstreamed into several recent trade agreements and negotiations. Gender-specific data and gender-sensitive impact assessments should guide negotiations. The role and needs of women-led businesses need to be addressed to promote their economic empowerment. International trade...

A series of high-level summits in the Asia-Pacific region are getting underway this week, kicking off with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and concluding with the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) leaders’ meetings. These events, among others, are being watched closely for...

The European Commission recently circulated updates on the progress seen in two different negotiating processes, specifically with Indonesia and New Zealand, earlier this month, referring to valuable advances seen in both cases. While trade talks with Indonesia have been underway for over two years...

Leaders from the European Union and from a host of Asian countries are meeting in Brussels, Belgium, this week for a high-level gathering that is due to tackle subjects like economic cooperation, trade and investment, and climate change. The meeting, along with related summits scheduled this week...

Ministers representing 16 Asia-Pacific countries called for “further improvements” in negotiating a sweeping trade accord, while outlining some advances in talks on the framework of rules for the planned agreement. The meeting, held in Singapore, comes ahead of a 2018 target for endorsing a “...

The Canada-European Union Comprehensive and Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) celebrated late last month its one-year anniversary since its provisional entry into force, with officials meeting in a “joint committee” format to evaluate the accord’s implementation and adopt recommendations involving...